With the revolving door having moved to Loftus Road in the summer,
there were many comings and goings. Mark Hughes was busy in
the transfer window bringing in Julio Cesar, Robert Green, Fabio,
Jose Bosingwa, Ryan Nelsen, Ji-Sung Park, Staphane Mbia and Junior
Hoilett.

As expected the side haven't
quite clicked yet and I hope today isn't the day that they get it
together, although they got a good draw against Chelsea last week in
the Handshake-gate match.

Spurs will need to be alert
to the likes of Bobby Zamora, who can still hit the target,
alongside Hoilett, who is a pacy and talented young player, who was
watched by Spurs last season. Djibril Cisse is also available
and with his record of scoring or getting sent off in almost each
game he played for QPR last season, it certainly makes him one to
watch. Another option would be to bring in Jamie Mackie, who
doesn't look the most elegant footballer, but he does have a knack
of scoring goals.

Park has been brought in to
add experience and a dynamic engine to the midfield, while Mbia also
offers some strength in the middle of the park, but he is likely to
miss the game with injury. With Shaun
Wright-Phillips pacy on the flank, there may be a threat from there,
but he might be pushed back by our full backs pressing on.
Perhaps the most interesting signing in the summer was that of Real
Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero, who is a player with the ability
to produce moments of magic, which made it surprising that the
Spanish club let him go, but with Modric joining them, perhaps they
thought he would not find a place in their side. There may be some
occasions on which he goes missing and that may hurt QPR, but if
they build a midfield around him with three willing workers, it
might cover for his shortcomings. Shaun Derry might be one of those
minders, but he is getting on a bit and his pace might leave him
struggling against some younger opponents. Keiron Dyer has
managed a few games this season after an injury-torn career and he
might add a bit of experience to the team. Unfortunately,
another who may well miss the game is our former mercurial
midfielder Adel Taarabt. Whether QPR will miss his step-overs
is another question, but he is dangerous from free-kicks, having
scored the winner at Loftus Road against us last season, before he
got a red card.

The defence is missing Anton
Ferdinand and Armand Traore through injury, but a familiar face in
Ryan Nelsen will be featuring, with Nedum Onuoha, Clint Hill and
Jose Bosingwa making up the defensive four. There may be too
much there for Jermain Defoe to deal with on his own, so the support
from the three behind him will test the Rangers back line. The
pace down the flanks could once more be the key to opening them up,
but we will need to get people into the box to make the most of the
chances made.

It will be interesting to
see Julio Cesar in action, as he had a torrid time when he faced
Spurs with Internazionale, but had a good game last week and took
over from Rob Green straight away, so Tottenham need to test him
early on and keep peppering him with shots.

Spurs should have enough to
get the three points, but Hughes is making QPR a more difficult team
to play against, with a solidity about the side eventually planned
to act as a base to launch attacks from. I don't think the
Rangers full backs will be getting forward too much, so Spurs need
to keep the pressure on them and support from midfield, where the
visitors might pack the middle of the park to make it difficult to
play through.

Spurs managed it against a
defensive Lazio side, but lacked the luck in front of goal, but
today they need to make their own luck.

TOTTENHAM
HOTSPUR TEAM NEWS :
Spurs will give Emmanuel Adebayor a fitness test on his hamstring
injury and Kyle Naughton should be fit to play after getting a nasty
set of studs in his leg on Thursday against Lazio. Ruled out
are Heurelho Gomes (ankle), Jake Livermore (groin), Scott Parker
(Achilles), Younes Kaboul (knee) and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (knee).
Everyone else should be available.

This was a game that was the
original "game of two halves", with Spurs failing to show up until
half-time, by which time they were 0-1 down, before kick starting
themselves at the break to go on to win 2-1.

They way Tottenham,
performed in the first half made QPR look like Barcelona, as they
passed Spurs off the park, by closing them down high up the pitch,
forcing Spurs to turn over the ball far too often. That
allowed Rangers to move the ball wide and get it into the box,
testing Spurs defensively and bringing two very good saves from Brad
Friedel.

Spurs had started with Clint
Dempsey in the three behind Jermain Defoe, alongside Aaron Lennon
and Gylfi Sigurdsson. Gareth Bale had had to drop back to left
back with Kyle Naughton not being ready to play after getting a
horrible kick on his foot on Thursday in the Lazio match. This
move unbalanced the Spurs team and left Bale restricted in what he
could do, with no cover if he rampaged forward. Thus the
Tottenham attacking regime was limited and when we did attack, Defoe
had to battle with three defenders most of the time, ending with the
ball coming back towards our goal.

The first chance of the game
dropped Tottenham's way with Lennon making way down the right to get
to the side-line and pull the ball back for Defoe. He had a
shot blocked and Sigurdsson was on it in a flash, but collided with
Hill and the chance was gone. The one thing that came out of
that move was that Jose Bosingwa picked up a hamstring pull and had
to leave the action. He was substituted by Kieron Dyer, which
must have been a strange experience for him - coming on after three
minutes rather than going off after that time !! He really
must be the only player who has his previous appearances for clubs
listed in minutes rather than games.

But with the defence having
to be reshuffled and having a midfielder and Ryan Nelsen playing in
the back four, Spurs still didn't pressurise the make-shift defence.
This allowed QPR to push forward with Spurs chasing the ball and a
fifth minute corner picked out Hill at the far post, where he rose
to head powerfully at goal, only for Friedel to throw out a strong
hand to his right to push the ball over the bar. it was a very
good stop and the Spurs keeper had to be on his toes in the 14th
minute, as Walker jumped under a cross and Junior Hoilett chested
the ball down to hit a volley at goal, which Brad dived to his left
to palm away well.

It was from a corner that
Rangers took the lead, with the ball coming out, but Defoe and
Dembele both losing out in challenges on the edge of the box before
Faurlin slid a ball down the right side of the six yard box
for Bobby Zamora to lift the ball over Friedel as he dived out.
It had been coming, as Spurs struggled to impose themselves on the
game and QPR put in a lot of effort to deny Spurs the time and space
to play.

Zamora had been leading the
line well. With Hoilett playing just behind him in the hole,
long balls up front to him were either flicked on to his partner or
held up until support arrived. Too often, when a Spurs player
had the bal, there was no option for him to play it to. One
QPR move saw Hoilett fire in a low effort that Friedel had to go to
his right to push away and the home fans were starting to get
irritable. This lead to the predictable boos at the interval.

Inspiring the fans, if not
the players at half-time were paralympians gold medal rower Pam
Relph and 200m sprint gold medallist Richard Whitehead. Their
success over-coming their adversities make footballers look a great
deal more pampered and precious, but Whitehead said that two goals
in the second half and three points would make his visit all the
better. I don't know if he could be heard in the dressing
room, but his words should have shamed the Spurs team into action.

It seemed that was the case
when the second half kicked off, with AVB bringing on Steven Caulker
for Sigurdsson. This saw Dempsey pushed further forward as
well as Bale, with Vertonghen moving to left back. Almost
immediately, there was a greater fluidity about Tottenham and the
Belgian's ball in from the left causing Hill to head away under
pressure. Hoilett had an opportunity to shoot when Zamora
nodded onto him, but Caulker got in the way to block the way to goal
and then Dempsey pulled the trigger on a 25 yarder that saw Cesar
tested for the first time and not deal with it that well, pushing it
away. The keeper was starting to look a little nervy now that
pressure was being put on him, as he dived out to punch away a Bale
cross unconvincingly and then a Bale corner ended with Caulker
heading the ball into the six yard box, with the keeper pushing the
ball up and causing a scramble with Defoe unable to get the
important touch to finish it off.

Tottenham were getting more
joy up the flanks now and Lennon's breakaway run saw him lift a
little cross into the far post, but nobody was there and the ball
was put out for a corner. Bale took it and Caulker met it with
his head at the far post, intelligently heading it back into the
goalmouth. Jermain Defoe was there and jumped for it, but was
never going to get it, but he fooled Alejandro Faulrin, who turned
his back as it went past the Spurs striker and the ball bounced off
his shoulder and into the net past a static Cesar.

It was a relief that the
equaliser had come, as Rangers looked like they were riding their
luck, so with exactly half an hour left, Spurs had to go on to try
and win it. But it didn't take half an hour. It took
about 90 seconds.

A QPR attack broke down from
the kick off and Vertonghen lead the charge forward up the left
wing. With Bale outside him as he moved infield, he slipped
the ball wide to the Welshman, who drilled a low shot that had all
the hallmarks of his goals against Inter Milan. Only this
time, Cesar got a touch on the ball with his foot that took it up
onto the bar and out. It looked as though it wasn't going to
be our day, but fortune smiled on Tottenham, as it dropped to Defoe
on the edge of the six yard box to take a touch and drill it low
under the man on the line and into the net. Cue thunderous
roar and excited celebrations. Even those around us how booed
at half-time were jumping up and down. How a couple of minutes
can change people's perceptions.

Spurs were now on their best
attacking form. Bale pinged a shot from the left across
Cesar's goal that missed the far post by inches, then Dempsey hit
the Brazilian keeper with a shot from inside the box. But
Tottenham were indebted to Jan Vertonghen when Hoilett took a poor
clearance out of our box and looked certain to pull Rangers level
from just inside our box, but as he pulled his foot back, the Spurs
summer signing produced a tackle of Ledley King proportions to take
the ball off him. Any sort of mis-timing would have conceded a
penalty and the fact that Vertonghen came out of nowhere was a
tribute to his reading of the situation and his reaction timing.

Caulker won yet another
header from a set-piece when he headed Bale's corner two feet over
the bar. This could become a useful tactic, as Spurs have not
dominate din the air in the opponent's penalty area for a long time.
He was also using his height at the back, as he headed away cross
after cross, making him look like a real prospect, both for club and
country.

Bale had another chance,
this time popping up on the right side of the box, before taking the
ball close to Cesar's goal and smacking a shot into his chest.
Next u. with five minutes left, was Jermain Defoe, who was played
through by Dempsey, but the forward could not quite get his 200th
career goal, as he was crowded out, after taking a touch too many.
Lennon went on a long run and despite Faurlin's vain attempt to
cynically chop him down, found the ball played off Hill for a
corner. Spurs looked to keep the ball in the corner, but this
is never a good tactic for us and before you knew it the ball was
going up to our end again. Luckily, Granero, the signing from
Real Madrid shot high over the bar, with his main contribution to
the game some petty persistent fouling that brought him a booking,
but only twice after Dowd had warned him for it.

In fact, Dowd had a poor
match. Usually one of the more sensible refs, today, he must
have been affected by the rain, as the grasp he has of the laws of
the game slipped today. Twice the ball popped up onto hands in
the box. Not hand to ball, but that isn't necessary these
days, so when he failed to give the one by Wright-Phillips, who had
his hand up near shoulder level, it prompted an East Stand supporter
to throw his programme onto the pitch. With it being so wet,
it did nothing but flutter a foot inside the line, but even that did
not help Spurs fans feel that it was getting near equaliser time.

The fact that Spurs used
their pace against a tiring and strung out QPR team helped allay
those fears. In the last minute, substitute Andros Townsend
outpaced any Rangers player near him on the left wing and his ball
across to Defoe had goal written all over it, but the striker's low
shot saw Cesar pull of a good low stop to his right. And then
it was over.

Not a classic, but a hard
fought win after a tactical and personnel change by AVB which might
inform him as to how the future play should be conducted. The
one thing last season at home especially was the attacking threat
pushed teams back and dulled their own efforts going forward.
I think that one thing this match proved was that we are better at
home playing two up front, but then you don't have to be a tactical
genius to see that. It might even be suitable playing away
from home, as then, it will not give the other side the luxury of
having two men spare at the back who can bolster the side going
forward.

Rangers played well and they
may have enough to stay up, but there is still a journeyman feel to
their team. Too many players who have not done it at a high
enough level to salvage something from Rangers spending to take them
to that elusive next level. Their desperate attempts to chop
down Lennon, Bale and Townsend were crude in the extreme and may
lead to some suspensions coming their way if that is how they are
going to deal with pace. Allied with their lack of scoring
prowess, it may be a tough season for the West London club.

As for Tottenham, there is a
little more hope on the horizon, but also there is Manchester
United, waiting at Old Trafford for them. It will be an
interesting tactical battle, with United not playing to their peak
form and Spurs still finding their feet.

Here's to more of the second
half football we played !!

The Heathrow Spur

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What you
thought

Other scores
during this week :

Chelsea

1

Stoke City

0

Saturday

Southampton

4

Aston Villa

1

Saturday

Swansea City

0

Everton

3

Saturday

West Bromwich Albion

1

Reading

0

Saturday

West Ham United

1

Sunderland

1

Saturday

Wigan Athletic

1

Fulham

2

Saturday

Newcastle United

1

Norwich City

0

Sunday

Liverpool

1

Manchester United

2

Sunday

Manchester City

1

Arsenal

1

Sunday

League Table

P

W

D

L

F

A

Pts

GD

1

Chelsea

5

4

1

0

9

2

13

+7

2

Manchester United

5

4

0

1

12

6

12

+6

3

Everton

5

3

1

1

9

5

10

+4

4

West Bromwich Albion

5

3

1

1

7

4

10

+3

5

Arsenal

5

2

3

0

9

2

9

+7

6

Fulham

5

3

0

2

12

7

9

+5

7

Manchester City

5

2

3

0

9

7

9

+3

8

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

5

2

2

1

8

6

8

+2

9

West Ham United

5

2

2

1

5

4

8

+1

10

Newcastle United

5

2

2

1

6

6

8

0

11

Swansea City

5

2

1

2

10

6

7

+4

12

Sunderland

4

0

4

0

1

1

4

0

13

Stoke City

5

0

4

1

5

6

4

-1

14

Aston Villa

5

1

1

3

5

9

4

-4

15

Wigan Athletic

5

1

1

3

5

10

4

-5

16

Southampton

5

1

0

4

9

15

3

-6

17

Norwich City

5

1

3

1

2

8

3

-6

18

Liverpool

5

0

2

3

4

10

2

-6

19

Queens Park Rangers

5

0

2

3

3

11

2

-8

20

Reading

4

0

1

3

4

9

1

-5

Position before match :
10th
Position after match : 8th
Position after the weekend : 8th